the ikarus

Overview

The Ikarus started it’s life as an “integrated” amplifier 35 years ago, then evolved into a concert monitoring amplifier. Alongside my [modified] 3 Stellavox SM8 Tape machines , it was constantly being refined so I could easily hear what I was doing with microphone placement relative to the performers in a live concert. It needed to be holographic.

Ikarus’ speed and low-noise, allow it to be phase-perfect to well over 100kHz [the limit of the B&K 4135 1/4” capsule microphones I was using at the time]. Sporting our signature construction - sculptured massive CNC machined aluminium case , highest quality connectors, milspec double-sided oxygen-free copper PC Board, it uses a complete dual mono approach in power supplies with separate individual high-speed rectifier diodes with almost 40,000uF of filtering supplies. A high quality [Grayhill] rotary switch and potentiometer [ALPS Blue Velvet ] are the only components the signal encounters on its way to the ultra-high-speed amplifier circuits, allowing an incredible wealth of fine musical nuance to pass directly through to the loudspeaker.

Specifications

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: DC - 5.0MHz (-3dB)POWER OUTPUT: 50WRMS per channel into 8 Ohms with no more than 0.05% T.H.D.DAMPING FACTOR: Greater than 500 wide bandSLEW RATE: Greater than 1000V/us small and large signalT.H.D.: Less than 0.05% 20Hz-20KHzI.M.D.(S.M.P.T.E.): Less than 0.05%SIGNAL/NOISE: -117DBV unweighted input shortedSENSITIVITY: 0.5VRMS in for 50WRMS out (35dB)INPUT IMPEDANCE: 100kOhms in parallel with 11pF

The heart

The heart of the IKARUS is an easily accessible amplifier module on 2 x 9 pin DIN connectors which resides under a 3mm thick, CNC-machined module cover.

By isolating the heart of the amplifier in this way, we can very easily improve and refine the sound quality as we experiment with passive components - newer, faster or lower noise transistors, resistors, capacitors, printed circuit board dielectrics using purer copper [or silver] tracks.

This makes your IKARUS future-proof.

the making of an ikarus

These videos trace the creative and manufacturing process of an IKARUS.